Stilt Sandpiper
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| Stilt Sandpiper Conservation status: Lower risk (lc) | ||||||||||||||
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| Calidris himantopus Bonaparte, 1826 |
The Stilt Sandpiper, Calidris himantopus, previously Micropalama himantopus, is a small shorebird. It has resemblances to the calidrid sandpipers, especially the Curlew Sandpiper, and recent genetic analysis has shown that it is closely allied to that species, necessitating its return to the genus Calidris. It breeds in the open arctic tundra of North America It is a very long-distance migrant, wintering mainly in South America. It occurs as a rare vagrant to western Europe.
This species nests on the ground, laying three or four eggs. The male has a display flight. Outside the breeding season, this bird is normally found on inland waters, rather than open coasts.
This species resembles the Curlew Sandpiper in its curved bill, long neck, pale supercilium and white rump. It is readily distinguished from that species by its much longer and paler legs, which give rise to its English and scientific names. It also lacks an obvious wing bar in flight.
Breeding adults are distinctive, heavily barred beneath, and with reddish patches above and below the supercilium. The back is brown with darker feather centres. Winter plumage is basically gray above and white below.
Juvenile Stilt Sandpipers resemble the adults in their strong head pattern and brownish back, but they are not barred below, and show white fringes on the back feathering.
These birds forage on muddy, picking up food by sight, often jabbing like the dowitchers with which they often associate. They mainly eat insects and other invertebrates.
Reference
- Shorebirds by Hayman, Marchant and Prater ISBN 0-7099-2034-2